AUSTIN, Texas — Texas could see a surge of coronavirus cases after a weekend of protests, according to some public health experts who believe the protests, along with the state’s economic reopening, could make contact tracing difficult. Demonstrators are weighing the risk of transmission when it comes to standing up for their beliefs.

Dashawn Barr has not stopped demonstrating since Saturday, and the 25-year-old plans to continue to do so peacefully, despite being at risk for COVID-19.

“Everyone deserves to live. No matter your ethnicity, no matter your creed, no matter your color or your sexuality. We're all entitled to a right to live,” Barr said.

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On Tuesday, the Austin native joined a few dozen outside of Austin police headquarters, trying to draw support from the drivers who passed by. Two crises are now confronting the country. People are taking to the streets to protest police use of force amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Why we're risking our personal lives, why we don't care about the sickness, is because maybe we're just tired of seeing, I guess, innocent people die every day,” Barr said.

Public health experts said Texas could see an increase in COVID-19 cases, considering how when protesting it is difficult to physically distance. Dr. Mark McClellan, one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s advisers on reopening Texas and former FDA commissioner under President George W. Bush, is encouraging protesters, if possible, to still be careful and isolate from those who are at higher risk of COVID-19 complications. He said protesting might also complicate contact tracing.

“It is difficult to trace contacts when people don't know who exactly they've been close to during the period when they may have transmitted the virus,” McClellan said.

The protests come as restrictions loosen and businesses across Texas reopen. McClellan said among monitoring several factors, state and local leaders must continue to keep track of trends in hospitalization and emergency room visits. Now amid protests, he recommends that officials should strive to make it easier to maintain peaceful protesting. McClellan also advises police to not use tear gas.

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“Avoiding steps like tear gas or pepper spray, things that make people cough and tend to aggravate conditions for spread, those are important considerations, too. But the protests need to take place. That's very important for our country. The more that we can do it safely, especially in the context of the ongoing pandemic risk, the better for everyone, especially for people from communities with large numbers of black Americans and lower income Americans,” McClellan said.

Early findings show how COVID-19 disproportionately impacts communities of color when looking at contraction rates and outcomes, particularly when it comes to deaths and hospitalization. Epidemiologists said there are socioeconomic and environmental factors at play. University of Texas professor Catherine Cubbin uses epidemiological methods to study the social factors that impact population health, such as race and class.

“Because of things like systemic racism and residential segregation, and, you know, discrimination in the health care system and all these other factors, we have these huge health disparities in almost every every area of health that you can think of,” Cubbin said.

 

Protesters stand outside Austin police headquarters with signs, demanding justice for George Floyd, racial inequality (Spectrum News)

There are growing considerations across the country to declare racism as a public health crisis. Health leaders in some American cities have sought to make the designation recently.

“It brings up this sort of collective level of trauma when you see something like that, that happened to Mr. [George] Floyd, and lots of others. So that's kind of a triggering of stress and anger. That itself is a public health issue,” Cubbin said.

Barr said over the course of a few days in the Texas capital city he has seen the tension during protests relax and little violence occur. While there is a public health crisis, he said he believes it is more important for him to fight for a future free of racism.

“Our generations before us name name after name of people who’ve been harmed by police brutality, or other forms of brutality. I think we’re just finally fed up,” Barr said.